Kindness is a Waiting Place by Minnah Arshad

Title: Kindness is a Waiting Place

Author: Minnah Arshad

Genre: Political Fiction

Publisher: Prolance

Released: October 2017

Format: Paperback

Pages: 208

Source: I received a soft copy from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

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Penelope Whitaker sets off for Syria as a relief worker, leaving behind her apathetic suburban life in search of meaning. But when a bombing in Aleppo derails her plans, she finds herself stuck in Istanbul. There, beneath all its beauty, she encounters untold suffering, through the eyes of Ameer, the forgotten Syrian boy, and Mr. Ghanzali, a cheerful professor turned peddler. When she returns home, only to discover a Trump sign on her father’s lawn, old wounds around race, family, and politics resurface. Throughout her journey, Penelope learns to see people as they are rather than as she expects them to be.

Money is valuable, but only because the world makes it so. There is so much more out there; these past three weeks have taught me this. There are snowball fights, the comfort of warm salted rice in a dirty tent, the energy of family. There is the unparalleled satisfaction of building a school for unfortunate children. Of seeing a mother with tear-filled eyes grasp your hands and thank you. There is the heartbreaking sight of a father on his knees when he discovers his little girl under the rubble. There is an entire village, lost, with only a sack of belongings on their back. There is a grandmother’s pain of losing the only home she has ever known, of losing her way of life. There is the smell of smoke and burnt flesh that burns through your nose. There is the stinging of crumbled building scratching your feet. The leathery skin of a child who’s been burnt by then sun and stinged [sic] by the frost.

Kindness is a Waiting Place, Minnah Arshad

At just 16 years, Minnah Arshad has done a great job at character development throughout the book, despite the fact that I couldn’t relate to the character. Initially, I had a tough time understanding the main character, Penelope, and at times I would want to put the book down; however, I am happy I stuck through, because the character growth was evident towards the ending of the book.

The story starts with Penelope being in Istanbul where she meets a Syrian refugee, Ameer, and is drawn towards him. Later she travels to Syria for relief-aid work, and comes back to Istanbul before returning to America. Her experience throughout the journey makes a turning point in her life, through which she learns the realities of life.

The author possesses an amazing talent for imagery and description, and I believe those who enjoy reading such a narrative would resonate with her style.

Kindness is a Waiting Place follows the main character’s point-of-view, not in the past tense, rather the present tense. Having read many books in the past tense, shifting gears to read a fiction with the present tense took some time to get used to.

The only suggestion I’d want to make is to have more dialogues. In places where the conversation was being explained through Penelope’s lens, dialogues would have suited best as opposed to monologues.

Overall, a good read for teens and young adults, especially in light of what is happening around in the world today.